PS4: Out in November and smartphone controlled?

After months (years?) of waiting, Sony is about to unleash its next-generation console during a press event in New York tonight (11pm GMT, 6pm EST). What has been affectionately - and obviously - titled PlayStation 4 by the press and going by the codename Orbis to Sony staff, the new console has been the centre of speculation and rumour for some time, and that's not about to change.

Games site Kotaku, you see, has now revealed a new picture of the touchscreen-enabled controller which it claims will replace the DualShock, plus release date and a few other details.

Its "reliable source" has told the site that Sony plans to release the PS4 in the US in November. There's no heads up on a UK date, and that could very well still be the early-2014 slot touted in an earlier leak, but Americans, said the source, will get their consoles in time for Christmas.

In addition, the source - who also revealed the working titles for both the PS4, "Orbis", and Xbox 720 "Durango" - has said that as well as featuring a new Sony controller, the console will be able to be controlled in some fashion by using a smartphone. That's not too hard to believe, considering that another of Sony's arms makes smartphones and the Xbox 360 has already got phone and tablet control via Xbox SmartGlass.

Pricing won't be announced, the source said, until around E3, but did reveal that there will be two models of the PS4, costing around the $429 (£280) and $529 (£345) marks.

Other tittle-tattle the source revealed includes the fact that Sony is to follow Microsoft's lead in adopting a paid model for its online service, much like Xbox Live Gold. And it will be rebranding it PlayStation World (no more PlayStation Plus).

There will also be a PlayStation Eye in every box, said Kotaku's source, and an On-Live style spectating feature will allow you to watch your friends' in-game action live. This, of course, will depend on cloud gaming, so we're not entirely sure how this will work.

We doubt these will be the last "leaked" rumours to emerge today. We'll know whether they're the real deal tonight.